...man, the more I look at this, the more I feel the excitement wearing down.

the MP-01 was awesome IMO because of the diecast, size, and how Takara mangaged to reduce the kibble so that it looked like the G1 animated version just jumped out of the TV.

This one just looks like a redo of the G1. Nothing new, same kibble, just a better look and more poseablity. It still rocks, but I'm a little disappointed that they didn't seem to much of anything new with it.

I'll wait until we can see some color pics and different angles before I make my final judgement, but for the money, I hope they found a way to hide the giant T-rex head or something.

I hope they do Hot Rod and/or Galvatron one day. And I hope they give him the same treatment they gave the Masterpiece Optimus Prime.

Ok I'm done. I'm not quite sure I understand your logic. Part of the reason MP-01 was so interesting was because it was more like the cartoon character and less like the old toy right? Well in Grimlock's case his cartoon model was pretty much like the old toy. Other than giving him proper elbows and a little more play out of the existing joints, there isn't much that can be improved. Unless you want him to look like the action master Grimlock, he's pretty much always had those extra bits on his back even in the cartoon. I also agree with you that a new Hot Rod would be sweet. At least Japan likes Hot Rod.

I'm with Andrew...that made no sense. Why would you want to hide the giant T-rex head??? The point of the MP series is to make a toy that matches the animation model. Like Andrew said, in this case, the animation model matches the toy pretty damn well, and the cartoon clearly showed the T-rex head and the "doors" with the T-rex arms hanging off his back and the tail bits on the sides of his lower legs.

Yeah, I have to say I'm all about the old original Grimlock toy. A bigger, more posable version of the same would be excellent. In fact, it's enough to make me want a MP Megatron. Can't have all Autobots.

I dunno, fujikuro...I don't think there's much that'd make me want an MP Megatron. I handled JoshB's before...it's a floppy disaster. You want an adversary to MP Grimlock, try to track down a reissue Predaking giftset.

But I tend to agree: the G1 toy was fine. Doubling the size, increasing the percentage of diecast in the whole thing, and maybe adding some poseability (at least that nifty neck joint the WST had to allow the robo head to slide forward) would be perfect.

Then again...I guess that's sorta all they're trying to do with the MP (just add way more poseability and smooth out some lines in the process...).

I still stand by my assertion that the full set of WST Dinobots are the greatest Toy Crack of all time.

Oh right--I forget that even in the show, he had the same kibble. It's been a while..!

I guess with OP, Megatron, and Starscream, they did something new and innovative with the design/tranformation. With Grimlock, maybe there was nothing more they could do but add some more poseablity and beef up the look. I guess I kind of wished that they had taken on a more difficult project.
It's definitely cool (the dinosaur mode is especially good), but I don't know if I want to drop $150 on it. gotta see more of it.
If he's as big as OP, then it would be hard to say no.

Well, if they were to take on a "difficult project", I'd wanna see an "anatomically correct" T-rex. No, I don't wanna see dino-dong. Even though it's not cartoon-accurate (which is the point of the toy line), I think it'd be cool to see a scientifically accurate T-rex, with the spine and tail held parallel to the ground, not dragging like Godzilla:

Hmm... nah, that's not something I'd want to see. Having Grimlock's alt mode look like a scientifically correct dino would take ALL the fun out of it for me. T-Rex's used to stand upright back in my day, and that's how I still wants 'em!

When I had Grimlock as a kid, he never really struck me as a 'real dinosaur.' I guess I treated him as more of a 'giant robot that happens to look like a dinosaur'- like Truck-a-saurus or something.

An updated dinosaur transformer would be pretty cool. I appreciated the effort in Classics Grims, but the proportions were a little off. I have this feeling that there would be WAY more fanboy whining (on the TF boards) if they changed either of his modes for the MP release.

haha, OK, Sanjeev. I get it. I'm sorry for not liking the toy as much as you. how illogical of me to expect something different for a "masterpiece" figure at $150--or something even as impressive as OP was (IMO). Remember, Starscream wasn't exactly G1 accurate, but it was still pretty close and pretty cool anyway even though their approach was different. I thought the "point" of the line was a little unclear then as Starscream didn't seem to follow the same format as OP--but that's just how it struck me. I guess you see it differently.

As for the MP-07 I think it's a cool toy, but for the price (and after the mentioned MPs), I expected something more--that's all. I still think MP Optimus Prime is the only one they got 100% right on...so far. MP-07 has yet to be released, so we'll have to see how it turns out in the end.

on a another note: does anyone know how the transformers are designed? what I mean is, who has more influence: the artist or the engineers? Does the artist draw up something interesting and then the engineers try to match it? I guess looking at old pics of grimlock's kibble (or whatever) got me wondering about it. I guess back in the G1 days, they were toys first--then the show followed? what about for a newer show like the Animated series? Thanks for any info.

I have to disagree with Kiriko. MP-01's crappy truck mode is a huge turnoff for me. I think the MP jets were a much better execution that paid the proper amount of respect to the original idea behind the Diaclone toys. And if you want to talk about Generation 1 toys in terms of design, they were all toys first that were adapted by artists like Floro Dery into the cartoon designs. Probably one of the more intersting things you can find in the first few issues of the Marvel comics is rough designs that didn't seem to follow the cartoon or toys.

Actually, that's a good point. With Starscream, they really did kinda dump the "cartoon-accurate" mandate. The transformation was definitely different and they did achieve something very new and very unique. Unfortunately, it was a crappy toy that was nightmarish to transform (got to handle one once at JoshB's).

But I agree wholeheartedly: what they came up with for MP Prime was pure genius. The transformation sequence was changed to make the toy look perfect in both modes while not being super-complex (even less complex than your average BT/Alt).

Now, Grimlock is 1/3 more expensive than the other Masterpieces...and you're essentially getting what appears to be the same transformation sequence and not significantly improved looks (because the look of the G1 was fine to begin with). I think it's fine to expect more. This is why I said it better have a huge proportion of diecast.

As for how these things are designed, I believe this info has been posted before. Not sure how they were done back in the day, but we DO know that the original Diaclone, etc., toys were designed as standalone toys with no media tie-ins (so the designers weren't beholden to any pre-existing comic or animation models).

Now, I believe the process is co-run with Hasbro. Hasbro handles the rough character designs as though they're designing mainly for the cartoon. These designs are sent to TakaraTomy, where the engineers take over and design a feasible toy from that artwork. Different iterations and test shots are sent back and forth until a unified animation model AND toy are developed.

I love the MP-01 overall, but in the truck-mode, some of the panels weren't perfectly flush. still, I was impressed with so much else about it that it didn't bother me too much at all. Like how in the alt mode they made a single seat for a driver, and how in robot-mode the matrix was encased inside the chest. I also thought it was cool how just behind the front windows in robot-mode, they didn't leave the open seating area in plain view. this made him look more tough.

First of all, in truck mode, it looks like a...truck. I'm not exactly sure what you guys were expecting.

Diecast. Glossy red and blue with chrome bits. The wheels roll and have rubber tires. Again, what more do you need???

kiriko, I'm not sure what the deal was with your MP Prime, but in truck mode, mine is tight as a drum. Every panel perfectly flush and locked into position. Same with at least two other specimens I've handled.

Finally, compare it to the alt modes of the other MPs...Megatron was a stoopidly-oversied pistol that was NOT tight as a drum. There were tiny gaps everywhere so that when you squeezed any part of it, it would creak as hundreds of cheap-feeling plastic bits inside the thing rubbed up against one another.

And Starscream? Well, it sorta seemed to hold together better than Megatron, but the owner took over 10 minutes to transform the thing (he'd had it for a while and had transformed it about a dozen times already...he didn't need the instructions and this wasn't a case of him not knowing how to do it). Fail.

Let me put it to you this way, the 50 dollars movie Optimus Prime has a better truck mode than the 100 dollar MP-01. It's almost as bad as the THS-02 Convoy. Sure it looks like a truck, but it's pretty poor rendition. The from end has hinges in place of windows and the back end is all wrong (too thick). The truck mode grill is not right at all (but the robot mode one is) and all the details like doors are just slapped on. It also has that weird overhang with the windows that's supposed to give him robot pecs even though Optimus is flat chested. Honestly the old toy had a superior truck mode.

My MP Skywarp holds together fine and it takes me very little time to transform it. Also I don't care about diecast if it's just going to be added for no reason.

I have the movie (Leader) Prime and it's gorgeous, that's for sure, but I don't find it to be the better toy.

I'm not convinced that a comparison between the two is fair anyway. The movie Prime is essentially based on a real-life truck...just as the other TFs in the movie are based, more or less, on real vehicles in the world. MP Prime's truck mode is based on a poorly-animated cartoon from the 80's!

I'm not necessarily a diecast snob, but I recognize its value. The MP Prime is smooth, glossy, cold-to-the-touch, and heavy. Movie Prime is light, dull, and plasticky. The tactile differences are vast.

Anyway, I'm no truck expert, but if you reversed your pic and made it look like the "real" truck was the toy and MP Prime was the actual vehicle, I'd see no differences...or at least, no differences that meant shit to me. Again, 80's cartoon truck: check.

As for MP Starscream/Skywarp, just not my cup of tea. Yamato's new 1/60 Valk blows it CLEAR out of the water, as far as transforming jets go...hell, I'd much rather have a 1/48 Valk than MP SS...